Environments and Contaminants: Contaminated Lands Methods Indicator E10: Percentage of children ages 0-17 years living within one mile of Superfund and Corrective Action sites that may not have all human health protective measures in place, 2021. Ell: Distribution by race/ethnicity and family income of children living near selected contaminated lands in 2021, compared with the distribution by race/ethnicity and income of children in the general U.S. population. Summary EPA's Office of Land and Emergency Management has compiled data on contaminated lands from the RCRA Corrective Action Program and the Superfund Program. These data include the latitude and longitude, site areas, and the status of human health protective measures as of October 1, 2021 Indicators E10 and Ell present information about children living within one mile of Superfund or RCRA Corrective Action sites that may not have all human health protective measures in place as of October 1, 2021 A computer mapping tool was used to identify all land areas within one mile of the estimated boundary of each of these sites. Data from the 2016-2020 American Community Survey 5-year Estimates (U.S. Census) were then used to estimate the population of children ages 0 to 17 years living within these areas. Indicator E10 gives the percentages of children living within one mile of these selected sites, by race/ethnicity, and family income. Indicator El 1 gives the percentages of each race/ethnicity for children living within one mile of these selected sites and the percentages of each race/ethnicity for all U.S. children, for all incomes and for children below poverty. Overview of Data Files The following files are needed to calculate this indicator. An Excel file that gives the site information for all RCRA Corrective Action Program and the Superfund Program sites that may not have all human health protective measures in place as of October 1, 2021. These files were obtained from EPA's Office of Land and Emergency Management. A shapefile that contains the boundary of the Superfund sites was updated by and obtained from Shared Enterprise Geodata and Services in 2022. The boundary shapefile was obtained from here: https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=% 7BFC07D75C- 8596-434B-BlA6-0688C9CD45B5%7D. • American Community Survey (ACS) 2016-2020 5-year Estimate data for the entire United States from the US Census at the Block Group level and Census Tract level. For each Census Block Group, we needed the population (0-17). For each Census Tract we needed the populations by age (0-17), poverty level, and race/ethnicity for the following race/ethnicity groups: White, Black, AIAN, Asian, NHOPI, Other, Two or More Races, and Hispanic and White Alone. The America's Children and the Environment, Third Edition August 2022 Page 1 ------- Environments and Contaminants: Contaminated Lands populations of the Other and Two or More Races groups were summed to give the populations for the "All Other Races" group. These files were obtained from GeoLytics, Inc. at www.geolytics.com. • U.S. Census 2010 Block Group mean centers of population (centroids) were obtained from: https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/2010/geo/201Q-centers- population.html. • U.S. Census 2010 Track boundary data was obtained from: https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=ca!316dbalb442d99cb76bc2436b9fdb Calculation of Indicator 1. Source data pull. Obtain the Block data from the ACS 2016-2020 5-year Estimates files from GeoLytics for the entire United States. Specifically, at the Census Tract level obtain sex by age counts for the White population, Black population, AIAN population, Asian population, NHOPI population, Other population, and Two or More Races populations. Also obtain the Hispanic ethnicity sex by age counts for the population. Obtain the population counts of the same race/ethnicity groups by age from the Census Tract data, for all income levels, and for the populations of each race/ethnicity group by age below the poverty level and for each race/ethnicity group by age at or above the poverty level. At the Block Group level obtain population by sex and age. 2. Aggregate American Community Survey 2016-2020 data. Sum the Block Group populations over the age groups 0-4, 5-9, 10-14, and 15-17, and over the two sexes. For each race/ethnicity group, sum the tract populations over the age groups 0-4, 5-9, 10-14, and 15-17, and over the two sexes. Sum the populations for the Other and Two or More Races groups to create the "Other Races" race/ethnicity group. The Census Tract populations are summed into one field for each race/ethnicity group for the total population of children ages 0 to 17 years, and into another field for the population below poverty of children ages 0 to 17 years for each race/ethnicity group. 3. Spatially select Block Groups that intersect the contaminated lands buffer file. For each contaminated land site in the RCRA Corrective Action Program and the Superfund Program file of sites that may not yet be protective for people without boundary information, create circles with centers at the given latitude and longitude and areas equal to the given acreage. Increase the radius of each circle or boundary by one mile to create a buffer area extending one mile beyond the modeled-circular boundary or boundary. The original land area polygon (i.e., circle) based on the Excel file, and the resulting one-mile buffer are dissolved into one polygon (i.e., circle). That combined polygon is used to select all Block Group centroids that intersect the contaminated land, including the buffer area. This process creates all combinations of contaminated land areas with Block Groups that intersect them. If two contaminated lands America's Children and the Environment, Third Edition August 2022 Page 2 ------- Environments and Contaminants: Contaminated Lands buffers overlap and contain the same Block Group centroid, then the same Block Group would only be counted once. 4. Create poverty level proportions from the Block Group and join them back to the Block table. The Block Groups are a smaller Census division that rolls up into the Census Tract level. Many Block Groups may make up one Census Tract, and the ACS does not release race, ethnicity or family income level data at the Block Group level. The percentage of the total number of children 0 to 17 for each race/ethnicity/family income bin in each Census Tract was calculated, and then applied to the total number of children 0 to 17 in each Block Group within the Census Tract to estimate the number of children 0 to 17 in each race/ethnicity/family income level bin for each Block Group. 5. Aggregate the data for all Block Groups in the United States. Sum the populations over all Block Groups in the United States in each race/ethnicity/family income level bins. (E Number of children in income group i and race/ethnicity group r) 6. Calculate the percentages of children living within one mile of contaminated lands (Indicator E10). Divide the number of children living within one mile of contaminated lands by the total number of children in the US (for whom poverty levels were calculated). Percentage of children in income group i and race/ethnicity group r living within one mile of contaminated lands = Number of children in income group i and race/ethnicity group r living within one mile of contaminated lands / Number of children in income group i and race/ethnicity group r x 100% 7. Calculate the percentages of each race/ethnicity for children living within one mile of contaminated lands and for all children (Indictor Ell). Divide the number of children of each race/ethnicity living within one mile of contaminated lands by the total number of children of all races and ethnicities living within one mile of contaminated lands. Divide the number of children of each race/ethnicity by the total number of children of all races and ethnicities. Percentage of children in income group i living within one mile of contaminated lands that are in race/ethnicity group r = Number of children in income group i and race/ethnicity group r living within one mile of contaminated lands / Number of children in income group i living within one mile of contaminated lands x 100% America's Children and the Environment, Third Edition August 2022 Page 3 ------- Environments and Contaminants: Contaminated Lands Percentage of children in income group i that are in race/ethnicity group r = Number of children in income group i and race/ethnicity group r / Number of children in income group i x 100% Questions and Comments Questions regarding these methods, and suggestions to improve the description of the methods, are welcome. Please use the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of any page in the America's Children and the Environment website. America's Children and the Environment, Third Edition August 2022 Page 4 ------- |